Intentionality and Thinking as ‘Hearing’. A Response to Biesta’s Agenda

In his 2012 article Philosophy of Education for the Public Good: Five Challenges and an Agenda, Gert Biesta identifies five substantial issues about the future of education and the work required to address these issues. This article employs a Heideggerian reading of education to evaluate ‘Biesta’s truth’. I argue that Biesta’s point of view (a) underestimates knowledge’s predominance and relativism; (b) frames intentionality in pre-Heideggerian terms, which—although not a problem in itself because an individual is free to choose a particular perspective on the concept—raises the issue of consistency in Biesta’s theoretical framework; and (c) a final criticism concerns Biesta’s choice of tools for engaging with the identified challenges: The primary tools Biesta uses are intrinsic to the perspective he challenges. The use of a ‘first person perspective’ to frame pedagogy that focuses on the subject and ‘subjectification’ reaffirms the fundamental Western gesture that makes human beings subjects who ‘stand-over-and-against’ the world. I argue that it is possible to penetrate Plato’s ‘theoretical gaze’ and find a ‘weak’ alternative to an all-encompassing point of view of education through a Heideggerian approach that regards intentionality and thinking as ‘hearing’.     

On the Benefits of Seeking (and Avoiding) Help in Online Problem-Solving Environments

Seeking the right level of help at the right time can support learning. However, in the context of online problem-solving environments, it is still not entirely clear which help-seeking strategies are desired. We use fine-grained data from 38 high school students who worked with the Geometry Cognitive Tutor for 2 months to better understand the associations between specific help-seeking patterns and learning. We evaluate how students’ help-seeking behaviors on each step in a tutored problem are associated with their success on subsequent steps that require the same skills. Analyzing learning at the skill level allows us to compare different help-seeking patterns within a single student, controlling for between-student variations. Overall, asking for help on challenging steps is associated with productive learning, and overusing help is associated with poorer learning. However, contrary to many help-seeking theories, avoiding help (and failing repeatedly) is associated with better learning than seeking help on steps for which students have low prior knowledge. These results suggest that novice learners may benefit from engaging in solution attempts before they can make sense of given assistance. Methodological benefits for using local measures of learning are discussed, and comparisons are drawn to other forms of productive failure in problem solving.     

Teaching to address diverse learning needs: development and validation of a Differentiated Instruction Scale

In the province of Quebec, Canada, a trend towards full inclusion has impelled teachers to adapt their instruction to meet the needs of both advanced and weaker learners in regular school settings. The main purpose of the present investigation was to develop and validate the Differentiated Instruction Scale (DIS), which assesses the use of instructional adaptations and academic progress monitoring strategies in general education classrooms. A total of 125 elementary school teachers participated in a cross-sectional study, allowing us to develop and validate the DIS. Overall our results show that the DIS is composed of two factors that are consistent with the predicted constructs (instructional adaptations and academic progress monitoring). Evidence of convergent validity is provided through correlations among DIS' subscales and two criteria: (1) teachers' autonomy support and (2) perceptions of school climate. Results also reveal that teachers tend to use instructional adaptations that do not require much preparation or tailored instruction. The DIS could thus be used in future research to investigate outcomes of differentiated instruction. Moreover, it could provide useful information on optimal strategies for promoting learning in children with different abilities in general education classrooms.     

Modelling training response in elite female gymnasts and optimal strategies of overload training and taper

Abstract

The aim of the study is the modelling of training responses with a variable dose-response model in a sport discipline that requires highly complex coordination. We propose a method to optimise the training programme plan using the potential maximal performance gain associated with overload and tapering periods. Data from five female elite gymnasts were collected over a 3-month training period. The relationship between training amounts and performance was then assessed with a non-linear model. The optimal magnitude of training load reduction and its duration were investigated with and without an overload period using simulation procedures based on individual responses to training. The correlation between actual and modelled performances was significant (R ² = 0.81 ± 0.02, P < 0.01). The standard error was 2.7%. Simulations revealed that taper preceded by an overload period allows a higher performance to be achieved compared to an absence of overload period (106.3 ± 0.3% vs. 105.1 ± 0.3%). With respect to the pre-taper load, the model predicts that optimal load reductions during taper were 48.4 ± 0.7% and 42.5 ± 1.0% for overloading and non-overloading strategies, respectively. Moreover, optimal durations of the taper period were 34 ± 0.5 days and 22 ± 0.5 days for overloading and non-overloading strategies, respectively. In conclusion, the study showed that the variable dose-response model describes precisely the training response in gymnasts.     

Intermanual transfer of shapes in preterm human infants from 33 to 34 + 6 weeks postconceptional age

This study investigated the ability of preterm infants to learn an object shape with one hand and discriminate a new shape in the opposite hand (without visual control). Twenty-four preterm infants between 33 and 34 + 6 gestational weeks received a tactile habituation task with either their right or left hand followed by a tactile discrimination task in the opposite hand. The results confirmed that habituation occurred for both shapes and both hands. Infants subsequently held the novel shape longer in the opposite hand. The results reveal that preterm infants are capable of intermanual transfer of shape information. In spite of the immaturity of the corpus callosum in preterm infants, its development seems to be sufficient to allow some transfer of information between both hands.     

Active science as a contribution to the trauma recovery process: Preliminary indications with orphans from the 1994 genocide in Rwanda

Constructivist, hands-on, inquiry-based, science activities may have a curative potential that could be valuable in a psychological assistance programme for child victims of violence and war. To investigate this idea, pilot sessions were performed in an orphanage located in Ruhengeri, Rwanda, with seven young adults and two groups of 11 children aged from 9 to 16 years. Despite a number of imperfections in this attempt, significant observations have been made. First, a sound communication was established with all, even with the young adults who at the beginning were not as enthusiastic as the children. Furthermore, some children, originally isolated, silent and sad, displayed a high degree of happiness during the activities, and an overall increasing positive change of attitude. In addition, they appropriated well some principles of experimental science. This suggests that a joint development of science literacy and joy may be an interesting approach, both in education and therapy.     

Postponement in the completion of the final dissertation: an underexplored dimension of achievement in higher education

Research on academic achievement at a university has mainly focused on success and persistence among first year students. Very few studies have looked at delay or failure in the completion of a final dissertation. However, this phenomenon could affect a substantial proportion of students and has considerable costs. The purpose of the present study is to identify factors which predict postponement in the completion of the final dissertation. Several potential predictors (e.g., background, personality, social support, motivational beliefs, and engagement) were selected through an integrative review of the literature on achievement in higher education. A questionnaire assessing these variables was administered to 341 students a few months before the deadline for their final dissertation. Results indicate that perceived peer support, perceived relatives support, role conflict, and age have an independent and significant effect on whether or not the final dissertation is completed on time. In addition, self-efficacy and behavioral engagement appeared to be mediators of the relationship between the social support and the final dissertation completion.     

Ergebnisse nationaler und internationaler Forschung zu schulischen Innovationsnetzwerken

Accompanied by the increasing relevance of school networks, there are a lot of reports available in national and international research regarding this topic. However, a compact summary of those studies and their findings is missing by now. Therefore, this article synthesizes the current research on school networks. Starting with the introduction of theoretical concepts for a better understanding of academic innovation networks, the article examines the empirical findings concerning those networks. This examination is conducted separately for German language and English language research. According to the presented findings, a consistent positive effect of school networks can be traced. The article concludes with a discussion of future research potentials concerning networks. Concrete suggestions for methodical and theoretical designs regarding network research are submitted.     

New perspectives for didactical engineering: an example for the development of a resource for teaching decimal number system

Many studies have shown the difficulties of learning and teaching the decimal number system for whole numbers. In the case of numbers bigger than one hundred, complexity is partly due to the multitude of possible relationships between units. This study was aimed to develop conditions of a resource which can help teachers to enhance their teaching of this concept, and learners to overcome some of its difficulties. “Didactical engineering for development” is a methodology that consists in cycles of conception of a resource and experiment with teachers, with a comparison of the a priori and a posteriori analysis. Overall choices for the design of the resource are described and the two main tasks designed with the support of a fundamental situation too. The type of collaboration between teachers and researchers evolves during the cycles of experiments in order to reach the conditions outside the research context. The analysis serve both to study how ordinary teachers appropriate the proposals made in the resource and to identify what is essential to disseminate to teachers. The results show how the situations can potentially help students to learn place value concepts, but they also indicate some resistance from the teachers when dealing with the decimal (base ten) principle of the numeration system. This is related to the influence of manipulative in teaching place value and to some characteristics of regular teaching practices. These results indicate the limitations of a resource in changing teachers’ practices, and they show that further teacher training about the decimal principle of the number system is needed.